Taking Arkadia
by walkingproof
Summary: Clarke never left after Mount Weather and now they're back in Arcadia. While Clarke and Bellamy battle their demons they can see their leadership is making all the wrong decisions. With their internal government crumbling and more threats coming Clarke and Bellamy decide to take back Arcadia.
1. Chapter 1

It's been a month since Mount Weather and Clarke could still see the effects on the 47 that were there. She saw the effects on herself when she looked in the mirror. The sleepless nights were catching up with her, the dreams were so vivid. She still remembered the sight of their skin blistering and the sound of their cries has haunted her dreams since their first night back at Camp Jaha, which was now called Arkadia. She knew she wasn't the only one with nightmares. It's wasn't uncommon to be woken up by screams filling the hallways of their living quarters. They didn't talk about it, it's was an unwritten rule that they never bring it up, that they never ask. Clarke had been sitting in her room for the last hour trying to prolong having to go out and see the faces of her people that she saved. A constant reminder of the lives she took.

She knew she wouldn't be able to hide in her room forever so she pulled on her jacket and walked into the hallway and decide she should probably eat. She wasn't hungry, she was actually rarely hungry anymore, but she knew if she didn't she would be hovered over and she hated being hovered over. They treated her like she was going to break at any moment. They didn't know that she was stronger than she used to be, they all were. The ground strengthened them all. The fight for their survival before the rest landed molded them into warriors. They were no longer the kids that they sent to Earth. They had been leaders on the ground for much longer than the people of the ark had been here, and even though they've stripped them of their leadership, they weren't just citizens anymore.

Clarke made it to the end of the hall and she could hear the normalcy of the mess hall. Well it wasn't really a mess hall anymore; it was more of a mess hall with an open garage right next to it where the rovers from mount weather were always being tended to. Monty caught Clarke's eye as he waved her over. She wasn't in the mood to be around anyone, but they've been there for her since the beginning. They should never have to suffer for her inner demons. She gave him a small smile and head towards the table he was eating at.

"Hey Monty" Clarke noticed he, like everyone else, had lost the spark in his eyes. Like her, he carried the weight of the people from Mount Weather on his shoulders.

"Hey Clarke, your mom has been hounding me to find you and for both of us to head to the Chancellor's office" Clarke sighed. She didn't feel like talking to her mother today. She had been trying to convince her to get back with helping in the medical bay for the last 2 weeks. Clarke shook her head.

"Let her know that…" Clarke was trying to think of an excuse.

"You're going over grounder information with the guard?" Monty helped.

"Yes! That." She gave him a genuine smile, "Thanks Monty."

He gave a mock salute but she could see the beginning of a smile. Clarke turned and headed towards outside. It didn't take long before the sun was beating against her skin. The contrast from the light generated inside the Ark and the sunlight outside during the middle of the day would cause you to stop mid step to try and let your eyes adjust. Clarke squinted and looked around the camp. Octavia was by Lincoln where he was showing some of the citizens what they could plant to help in having a more sustainable food source. She continued to scan the camp and could see Bellamy pulling off what looked like a guard's jacket. Clarke walked towards the tower where he was bent down to pick up the rifle and saw him slide it over his shoulder.

"Bellamy." He turned and looked at her over his shoulder.

"Clarke." He no longer carried the tone of a commanding leader like he did when they first got to the ground. His stance was no longer one of confidence, he always looked defeated now. She knew she probably looked the same way to everyone else. He turned around to completely face her.

"Did you join the guard?" Clarke motion to the jacket he had folded over his left arm.

He shrugged, "I figure it will give me something to do." his eyes flicked straight to hers. His yell she heard from his room last night played in the back of her mind. She knew all too well what he was going through. They had pulled that lever together and that wasn't something you could just let go of.

Clarke shifted from one foot to the other she sought the comfort of the only person she felt could understand her. She looked for anything to talk about just so she didn't feel so alone, "My mom's been looking for me. I wish she would stop. She keeps trying to get me back in the medical bay, but I don't think I want to do that anymore. Everything here feels so out of place now. It's weird to look at this place as home." He stared at her, "Am I crazy for wishing we were still back at the drop ship?" She chewed on her bottom lip.

He shook his head, "No." He tried to give her a small smirk but it didn't live up to the ones he had given her before, "But I was never one for rules, remember?" His head turns towards a whistle. Clarke looked over her shoulder and saw Pike waving Bellamy over. "I've gotta run."

She nodded, "Yeah go ahead, and I'll catch up with you later."

Clarke watched as he walked off before switching into a jog. After Mount Weather their dynamic changed between them. They both had their own demons that they were fighting and sometimes, and as selfish as it sounded, it was nice to know she wasn't alone. They never talked about what they did; sometimes they didn't even talk at all. But they would sit outside when neither of them could sleep and just sit in silence while looking at the sky.

"I can't believe he joined the guard" Clarke turned and saw Octavia staring after her brother with her arms crossed. Octavia looked like a true grounder now, but it suited her. Clarke saw that Octavia finally felt like she fit in somewhere. Octavia had already made it clear she didn't want to come back, but Lincoln wouldn't be welcomed back with open arms so they were forced into Arkadia with the rest of them. Octavia had never been a fan of the guard but after their unwillingness to work with them while they tried to get their people from Mount Weather, she now despised them. "The old Bellamy would have never become part of the guard."

Sometimes Clarke thought Octavia forgot that she was on the outside of the mountain. That she didn't see the faces, she didn't know their names, and she never pulled that lever. "He's just trying to find something to keep his mind busy Octavia." Clarke bit my lip knowing what that what she was about to say was a lie, "He's still the same Bellamy."

Octavia looked at her, the knowledge that Clarke was lying evident on her face. "No he's not. Neither of you are." She dropped her gaze and headed back to Lincoln.

"Clarke." Clarke groaned, I knew that voice without having to turn around.

"Yes mother?"

"I need you to come to my office."

"I'm really not in the mood to ta-"

"Now" Abby didn't yell, but the sternness in her voice stopped Clarke mid-sentence. She wondered what could possibly be so important.

"Fine"

Clarke brushed passed her walking towards her office. She hated who her mother had become while she was Chancellor, she wasn't there anymore. The only things that were there were Dr. Griffin and Chancellor Griffin. Once Clarke was inside she stood there with her arms crossed.

"Clarke take a seat" Abby pleaded.

"No, I'm fine thanks" Clarke tried to look everywhere but her mother's eyes. She didn't want to see the absence of understanding. All she saw nowadays was frustration. Frustration that she wasn't getting back to normal and that she wasn't helping out in the medical bay.

"Clarke you've got to start getting back to normal. I've let you mope around for months; it's time to start putting some normalcy back in your life."

Clarke scoffed, "Normalcy? I'm so sorry that I haven't bounced back to what you consider normal life. You haven't been on the ground for more than three months and yet you want to sit here and tell me to get back to normal? You never even saw the inside of Mount Weather, you didn't see as your friends were drilled for their bone marrow and you sure as hell never saw peoples bodies and face become covered with blisters as they screamed and cried because of something you did. You didn't pull the lever that ended the innocent lives of the kids in that mountain." Her vision was blurred by unfallen tears. "You don't get to tell me to get back to normal; you sat there debating on letting my friends die because you didn't have the leadership to do what needed to be done. I was left with that decision and I did what I had to do, and now my friends are here safe and sound but they will never be back to normal same as me. You have no right to ever talk to me about normalcy again." The tears finally fell, "Bellamy was right; on the Ark we never had to worry about anything. We were privileged, but down here we're all the same. It's time you realized that _chancellor_."

Clarke could hear the rushing in her ears. Those weren't sad tears she shed, those were angry tears. She stalked out of her mother's office, Abby's objections falling on deaf ears. How dare her mother say that to her, she felt betrayal creep up into her chest. It was then that Clarke felt truly alone. Her father was dead and for all intents and purposes now her mother was too. While Clarke felt the last bit of connection she had with Abby fall away, she knew that it didn't matter. Clarke knew that her true family was who she spent all her time protecting and leading since they landed here. The people who looked out for each other, that was her family. It was amazing that a group of delinquent kids could figure out how to run a successful camp, yet the leaders of the Ark were failing miserably in every single way.

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 **A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed it, if you did then leave a review and let me know what you like or disliked about it. I always try to take the feedback into account as I write.**


	2. Chapter 2

Clarke was sitting on her bed; she knew it had to be late but yet again sleep was escaping her. She was afraid of what she would see if she closed her eyes. She sighed and grabbed her jacket at the end of the bed and shrugged it on. If she couldn't sleep she was at least going to find a better place than her bedroom.

Opening the door she peeked down the hall and shut her door quietly. It wasn't that she was worried about getting in trouble, because there would be no reason. But she didn't want to face anyone's questions. She walked softly down the hall until she could smell the air of the night. Once she was outside she could see the guards in the guard tower. She peeked to the left, the opposite way of the tower and hurriedly made it to the other side. She rounded the side and stopped mid step. Bellamy was already there with his back against the metal of the Ark.

"Hey" Clarke said softly as Bellamy's head turned to look at her.

"Can't sleep?" His voice sounded raw. She felt that familiar tug in her chest.

Clarke walked over and sat next to him. "No, you?" It was then that she noticed the guard uniform.

"I just got off shift and I'm just not ready to go back in there yet."

She understood all too well. Inside the Ark felt suffocating, it was like being trapped in confinement all over again. Sure you could come and go as you pleased, but seeing the 47 people they saved was just an ugly reminder that felt impossible to escape. She didn't say anything back but just looked up at the sky. It felt like years had passed since they'd been up in space. The feel of grass under your feet and wind blowing against your face, it beat being on the Ark.

"So how did the thing with your mom go?" She felt Bellamy's eyes on her.

"She wants me to get back to normal" despite trying not to her voice was filled with disgust

"Wow." He said after a moment of silence, partially shocked that Clarke's mom would push something like that. Abby was the one that talked to them about possible Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that they might experience after everything they had been through.

Clarke sat there for a few minutes before her emotions took over, she had spent so much time suppressing her struggles that she might end up spilling her heart out to the one person that might understand. The peace she felt when he was around she couldn't get anywhere else. She could talk to him about anything yet there was always the big elephant in the room. Mount Weather had changed them both so much, they had lost themselves in the darkness once they had saved their people and made it back to camp. She wondered if she would ever get to a point where she wouldn't have nightmares anymore or when she could walk down the hall and see one of her people and not imagine all those people blistered and screaming as she saved them. She felt like she was about to break. The pressure that her mother was putting on her to be okay was too much, what could be normal after that? Taking hundreds of lives to save their own. She was lucky in the worst way. She at least had Bellamy, the one person that could feel exactly what she was feeling. But she hated the wall they'd put up. The wall that made Mount Weather an off limit topic. She didn't want that to be the case anymore. She needed a release. She'd been keeping everything in for months and she felt like she was just going to implode with everything she was feeling. Everything that was going on. She needed him just as much as he needed her. So she did the only thing she knew might relieve her of such a heavy weight. She talked about it.

"I wanted to save them Bellamy; I keep telling myself that I did the right thing. That I did what I had to do." Clarke took a shaky breath trying to take back control of her emotions, "They took our people, and they harvested some of them until there was nothing left. But I _still_ feel so guilty for pulling that lever, I-"

Bellamy cut her off, " _We_ pulled that lever Clarke, it wasn't just you. We _both_ made that decision. We _both_ carry that burden. You aren't going through this alone Clarke."

She looked at him in the moon light, he looked 10 years older since they landed here. His eyes didn't have the mischievous glint to it like it used to, they never joked anymore. It looked like his forehead had creases from where his face stayed in a constant state of worry. He looked completely broken inside, a mirror image of how she felt. "I've killed so many people Bellamy, not just the Mountain Men. I feel like I've lost part of my humanity."

"We're survivors Clarke; we do what we have to do to keep our people alive." He whispered. "Being a leader is never easy. Sometimes you have to give up your humanity so you can carry the weight of hard decisions so your people don't have to." He sighed, "I never truly wanted to be a leader, I just wanted to do everything in my power so the Ark wouldn't come down. So I wouldn't be locked up and never get to see Octavia again, but you were so stubborn, you kept my moral compass in check and suddenly it was a lot easier being a leader with you by my side. I wasn't making rash or selfish decisions anymore, suddenly I had more to think about than just myself. You're a good leader Clarke; the fact that you feel this way proves that. If you need forgiveness, I'll give that to you. You're forgiven."

She tried to control the sob that wracked her body. Those were the same words she had spoken to him months ago when he told her what he had done, what he carried on his shoulders after the culling. She reached over where his hand was on the ground and gave it a small squeeze and a watery smile. It didn't take the burden away, but a tiny part of her felt better.

"You're a great leader Bellamy. They listened to you and they respect you. You're the reason we made it this far. Without you taking control to start making a camp who knows what would have happened."

He looked her, "I didn't protect them Clarke. If I had just made it to the drop ship then maybe I could have stopped it. Maybe we could have gotten them out faster, but I wasn't there." Bellamy's voice was strained. "I'm the reason so many people had to die. I'm the reason we had to make an alliance with the grounders. If I ha-"

"Bellamy." Clarke cut him off, "We can't start dwelling on the 'what if'. There was a number of ways everything could have turned out. There's no reason to drive yourself crazy over it. You got inside, you helped them escape. You did all of that. They're here because of you."

They both sat in silence, each was thinking about what the other had said. They both had their burdens, not all of them the same but they all carried immense weight. But there was no denying that it was easier bearing those burdens together.

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Clarke knocked on Bellamy's door. It was close to mid-day and she just needed to get out of here and figured Bellamy might need a break too. They seemed to spend more time together since their talk about what they carried, the battle people never saw deep down. Clarke felt like the whole camp was just closing in on her, so she went to the one person that might be able to help her out. Bellamy opened his door with tousled hair and dark circles under his eyes. He probably had just as rough a night as she did.

"I need to get out of here, go on a walk or something. Do you wanna come?" She said softly as people passed her in her corridor.

"Clarke there's no way they're going to let us walk out that gate."

"You're part of the guard aren't you? You could say you're going to patrol the area."

"Well yeah, but I don't think they're just going to let you walk out the gate with me. Plus I'm not even on shift today."

Clarke chewed her bottom lip. There had to be some way, a way that hopefully wouldn't cause a lot of attention. "What if I slip through the fence on the side?"

"They turned it into an electric fence yesterday." He said walking back to his chair pulling on a black shirt over his undershirt.

Clarke was getting frustrated, he kept shooting down every idea she had, "Well then help me instead of shooting everything down." She snapped.

He looked up at her his eyes shooting daggers at her.

"Sorry." She mumbled, she knew he wasn't shooting her down. She knew that everything he was saying was true. But she just needed to get out of here and he was her ticket.

Bellamy sighed running his hand through his hair, "I was thinking we could go to talk to Raven, see if she knew of any way to turn it off or get through it." He shrugged on his guard jacket and walked back to the door. Clarke stepped aside and he walked into the corridor shutting his door behind him, "Come on."

They made it to the engineering side of the Ark and saw Raven slam down a wrench while what seemed to be her tinkering with what looked like a car part. Clarke fell back a little and let Bellamy take over.

"Raven" She looked up.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

Bellamy stepped a little closer lowering his voice, "Is there any way you could help us get out for a little bit without anyone knowing?"

Raven looked between them; "Uh, yeah" she wasn't sure what was going on. They both looked worn down but at the same time they looked better than they have in a while. "Let me see what I can throw together." She hopped off the stool she was sitting on and walked away but snuck a look back to see Clarke and Bellamy talking in hushed tones.

"Where exactly are you planning on going?" Bellamy leaned against the work bench Raven had been working at.

Clarke shrugged, "I don't know, I didn't really get that far. I figured I would just walk until I got tired." She muttered sheepishly.

Bellamy's mouth turned into a hard line, "If we're going venture out farther than the patrols I don't want to leave unprotected." He wanted to at least have a handgun if they were going to put a significant distance between themselves and Arkadia. They hadn't had any issues with the grounders since they left the people of the Ark to fend for themselves at Mount Weather, but Bellamy didn't want to take any chances.

"Bellamy, we don't nee-"

"Humor me." He looked down at her, sometimes forgetting how small she was when her confidence and ability to fight put her at least six feet tall in his mind. But this wasn't something he was going to back down on. He saw her battle whether to fight him on it or not. But to his relief he was glad to see her accept it and move on.

"Fine, but no rifles."

"I Promise" He found himself smirking, and it wasn't his half assed smirk he'd been giving Clarke or Octavia for the last few months. This one was genuine and it made him feel good.

Raven waved them over from behind one of the Mount Weather rovers. "I think I found a way out without having to mess with anything the guards could monitor" She seemed proud of herself.

"I'm gonna run back to my room for a second and I'll meet you outside?" His eyes caught Clarkes and she nodded. She knew that he wanted to meet where they usually ended up on sleepless nights.

Clarke turned her attention to Raven, "You're the best Raven." She gave Raven's shoulder a light squeeze.

Raven laughed lightly, "I've been telling you all that since day one." Clarke pulled Raven into a hug, surprising her.

Raven and Clarke walked outside shielding their eyes from the sun as they walked around the left side and stayed in the shade. Even though the sun hadn't reached this side of the Ark yet the metal still felt extremely warm on her back as she leaned against it waiting for Bellamy.

"Alright let's go." Bellamy walked up with the gun on his hip and Raven raised an eyebrow.

"Do I even want to know what trouble you guys are going to get yourself into?"

Clarke gave Raven a reassuring smile, "We're not going to do anything crazy, we just need out of here. I feel like I'm in a cell again." She spoke softly.

Raven nodded, "Alright well let's go."

Raven managed to pull a piece of metal up from the fence showing an exposed hole in the fence that would allow Bellamy and Clarke to slip out of camp and head towards the woods without being noticed. Clarke easily slipped through and had already started towards the forest when Raven called out to Bellamy softly. He turned around after climbing through, "Don't either of you do anything stupid." Raven's face was serious, "You're needed here."

Bellamy nodded at Raven, "We'll be back in a few hours, it's just…" he let his voice fade. How would he even explain what it was like to someone? Clarke understood, but he didn't think the rest of them would.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me Bellamy, just make sure you both come back."

Before he could say anything she had let the metal slide back down to cover the hole in the fence. When he turned Clarke was already on the edge of the tree line so he jogged to try and catch up.

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 **A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed it, if you did then leave a review and let me know what you like or disliked about it. I always try to take the feedback into account as I write. I'm hoping I can update this weekly. I'm currently writing ahead of posting in hopes I can continue to post weekly.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay so I hope you enjoy, I've actually had this written for awhile but I wanted to try and write ahead of posting. Fortunately for you guys I'm just too excited. Oh and remember, reviews fuel the want to write! So drop me one if you you're liking this so far.**

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Bellamy was standing at the edge of the lake throwing small rocks into the water. They had taken a break from walking after about 45 minutes. The temperature was rising and he had already shed his jacket and it lay right beside Clarke who was propped against the tree with her eyes closed. It looked like she was just enjoying being outside of Arkadia for a while. Bellamy threw the last rock he had and then went to sit by Clarke.

"I have to admit, it does feel better being out of the camp and back here." He sighed and leaned back against the tree. They ended up sitting there for what felt like hours before Clarke broke the silence.

"Ready to keep walking?" Clarke looked at Bellamy as she pushed herself up to stand. Bellamy nodded grabbing his jacket and pulling it on before following her as she led the way. It was probably another half hour before Bellamy started to recognize where they were. He grabbed Clarkes arm and made her stop.

"Why are we going to the drop ship?" Clarke pulled her arm from Bellamy's grasp.

"It's time that I faced what I've done."

"Is this why you wanted me to come with you?" He didn't know how to feel about this. She should have told him that this is what she wanted to do. He wasn't sure he wanted to see the destruction again. He still remembered the charred remains that lay around the camp. "Clarke do you really think this is a good idea?"

Clarke shrugged, "There's only one way to find out." She pushed forward and continued the walk towards the drop ship. Bellamy didn't think any part of this was a good idea, but he also knew that Clarke was stubborn as hell and nothing he said would make her rethink her decision. The only thing he could do at this point was to be there for her, so he followed.

Clarke pushed a lowly bush branch out of the way and finally saw the wall they had built to keep them safe for so many months. Part of her heart hurt looking at this. This place felt more like home than Arkadia, even though they had been through hell at their camp. Clarke glanced back at Bellamy to see if he was there. He was right behind her looking at the wall before dropping his eyes to look at her. "You're sure about this Princess?" The words flowed from his mouth so easily. It was like being back here made them who they were before everything.

She nodded and pushed forward until she was at the gate but hesitated. "You don't have to do this Clarke; we can go back at any time." Bellamy said softly.

Clarke shook her head, "No I want to do this."

Bellamy followed her through the gate. The walls were completely covered in ash. His eyes scanned the camp. Everything was black, you could barely tell anyone was ever here until you looked down. Charred bones and skulls littered the ground. Bellamy heard a crunch and whipped his head in the direction it came from his hand already on his hip hovering over the gun. It seemed some instincts never went away.

Clarke jumped back bile rising in her throat. She had stepped on a skull and it shattered like it was made from an egg shell. This used to be someone; this person could have had a family. Clarke didn't know anything about this person, or anyone whose body lay in a charred pile. But she had closed the drop ship doors, the first lever she pulled before the disastrous chain of events had started. She had done this; she had taken all these lives. She felt herself starting to shake as she looked at everything she took away. She didn't even know Bellamy was behind her until he put a light hand on her shoulder, "Clarke." It was barely even a whisper but she could hear him as if he had yelled it from across the camp.

Clarke shook her head, "Stop. You can't make this better Bellamy."

Bellamy hated seeing her like this. She had helped him when he felt like nothing more than a monster; she believed that he could be better. That nothing he did on the Ark defined him. She said that she needed him and he was going to do everything he could to be there for her. Bellamy heard talking from afar, it was far enough away that he could barely hear it but he grabbed Clarke's arm putting a finger to his lips and trying his best to walk silently closer to the wall. He stopped his hand over the gun on his hip, yet again, his senses heightened. Clarke couldn't figure out what he thought he heard, she listened closely but couldn't hear anything. It wasn't until she heard the laughter then she froze. The realization that they were trapped with only one way in and one way out hit her like a punch in the gut. Bellamy spoke as softly as he could "Clarke I need you to stay here an-"

"What? No! You're not going out there by yourself." She whispered harshly.

"I'm going to get a better vantage point; I need you to listen to them. See if you can figure out what they're saying. The patrols don't normally sweep this far."

Bellamy carefully made it to the far side of the fence and managed to climb up on the hill that the fence ran into but stayed low to the ground. He saw 3 guys decked out in the guard's uniform. He couldn't figure out why they would come out this far. Were they looking for him and Clarke? They hadn't been gone long enough for someone to make a search party and he was sure that Raven would have made up some excuse to cover for them if anyone came around asking. A guy interrupted his thoughts with a booming laugh. Clarke had her ear pressed against the fence her mind forgetting about the soot that covered it.

"I haven't seen any around this area. They probably don't enjoy coming to see their graveyard like we do" Clarke heard multiple laughs. "You have to admit that little girl charred them good." She felt her stomach flip, they were talking about her. "We should probably head up closer to the bottom of the mountain, that's where the last 4 groups of grounders were. The last patrol that came out this way hung the bodies from the trees. Pike thinks that will keep them from trying to get in camp for a while."

Clarke heard another voice that sounded delighted, "The council ended up giving Pike the go ahead from what I heard. I guess he managed to persuade them at the last council meeting. We're finally getting our revenge for what that bitch did at Mount Weather" Clarke felt a pang in her chest at the memory of Lexa's betrayal, but at this point she didn't know if he was talking about Lexa or herself. "Despite what some of the council believes, there's no diplomatic solution with these savages. Pike has the right idea." Clarke crouched lower and looked up the small hill to see Bellamy on his stomach his gun resting on the top of the wall. He had glanced down at her at the same time her eyes sought his. He reminded her to stay quite with a finger to his lips.

Bellamy shifted trying to get a better look over the wall. He wanted to see who was in this patrol unit. He still hadn't learned everyone's name. He cursed at himself for not making an effort to learn them; it would make trying to identify them so much easier. He grabbed the top of the wall and pulled himself to where he could lift his head and see over the top. He instantly recognized Shumway, the bastard that gave him the gun to kill Jaha and then tried to get Atom to kill him. The other two he didn't recognize. It wasn't normal for a commander to be on patrol which made Bellamy wondered what was going on for him to be out with the rest of the guard. Bellamy pushed his feet against the rock behind him in hopes he could get a little closer trying to try and make out what they were saying.

Bellamy felt the huge rock give way before the sound echoed through the trees. He ducked his head hoping the wall would cover his head so they wouldn't know he was there.

"Did you hear that?" The voice was coming closer; Bellamy could hear the sticks snapping under the man's boots.

Bellamy covered his head with his hands when he heard the first few shots fired. It hit the tree to the left of him and Bellamy lost his footing and slid about 5 feet down the hill before he managed to dig his heel in and catch a root and bringing him to a stop. Bellamy's attention went straight to Clarke to make sure she was okay. He could see the panic from her eyes even from across the camp. She went to move put he put up his hand begging her to stay put. They couldn't risk making any more noise.

"Why don't you come out and fight us! Not so tough against an automatic now are you!?" The guard shot into the trees again. Bellamy felt the bark and tree splinters falling all over him. The shots only lasted for a few seconds but it felt like minutes. Bellamy's heart was racing and he could hear the blood whooshing in his ears.

"Denby shut the fuck up!"

Clarke was crouched down with her hand over her mouth to keep herself as quiet as possible. Silent tears were streaming down her cheeks as she watched bullets hitting only a few feet above Bellamy's head. She wanted to run over to him, to pull him down from the hill and just run. There was silence afterwards and Clarke became rigged, she hated not being able to see. The silence scared her even more than the yelling because she had no idea where they were. She glanced back at the opening of the camp but didn't see anyone. A voice rang out right beside the wall where she was crouched and it made her jerk back around.

"You're wasting bullets Denby! There's no one here."

Clarke looked at Bellamy. She had only seen him truly scared one time and that was when he couldn't get to the drop ship with the rest of the 100 when the grounders attacked. But here he was his eyes wide his gun up and ready to shoot. She saw he kept glancing from the gate back to the wall.

"I told you they don't ever come this close to camp. Now let's go, I want to finish this sweep so I can go eat." Bellamy could hear Shumway head back to the other two guards. He didn't move for a while even after the woods around them fell silent.

"Bellamy!" Her voice was still low but she ran over to him gripping his forearm as he carefully slid the rest of the way down the hill. "Are you ok?" She was frantically searching his body opening his jacket to get a good look at his sides and chest. She looked up at him her face now dry where tears had left a trail clearing the soot from her face.

"I'm fine. Are you okay?" He was brushing the dirt and wood splinters from the arms of his jacket and hair. "Did you hear what they were talking about?"

Clarke nodded as she went to speak her voice cracked emotion and nerves still evident in her voice, "Yeah. Pike's letting the guard shoot grounders and hang them from trees as a message." Her eyes pleaded with him, "Please tell me you had nothing to do with that Bellamy."

He shook his head, "What? No!" it came out louder than he meant to. He cleared his throat bringing his voice down to a lower volume, "I would never do that Clarke. That's not who I am anymore."

She felt guilty that she thought he was capable. But the memories of him torturing Lincoln had surfaced so quickly. "Bellamy, the council approved this."

"Did they say anything else?"

Clarke shook her head, "That's pretty much all I heard" Her body was still shaking after going through that ordeal. "Is this what you do on patrol?" She didn't want to believe that this was a regular thing. She hoped that Bellamy would never do things like this.

"No." Bellamy stopped his mouth thin obviously lost in thought. "It's not normal for a commander to be going on patrol though, or for them to be patrolling this far from camp." He looked at Clarke, "I have no idea what's going on."


	4. Chapter 4

When Octavia made up her mind on something she was a forced to be reckoned with. She'd asked five different people if they had seen her brother and no one could give her a straight answer. This pushed her determination even further. It's not like she had to talk to him about something important, it was just the fact that no one knew where he was and that was never good. Octavia knew him better than anyone but she had checked all the places she knew he might be and came up empty, so she turned to the few people that Bellamy even gave the time of day to.

"Monty!" Octavia called down the hall jogging to his side.

"Hey Octavia."

Octavia gave him a small smile, "You wouldn't have happened to have seen my big brother today would you?"

Monty shook his head, "No, but maybe Raven knows? She's been working with the guard the last few days with the fence."

"I swear this is the worst game of hide and seek ever" she grumbled before giving a quick thanks and turned the other direction and headed to the garage. Once she could see the rover's ahead she sped up looking around for Raven. She saw her looking under the hood of one of the Rovers.

"Raven."

Raven's head popped up looking for whoever called her and when her eyes fell on Octavia they faltered. Octavia saw and walked closer. "Where is my brother?"

Raven did her best to be nonchalant about it, "I don't know. I haven't seen him."

"That's bullshit Raven don't lie to me, where is he?" Bellamy had fallen into a dark place and he always sought to be alone during the worst of it. She had left him alone the night before but she hadn't seen him all morning and it made her feel uneasy and now that no one could tell her where he was she was starting to panic. What if his so called burden became too much. Raven put her tools down on the side of the engine. "Please Raven."

Raven looked at Octavia, the worry clear on her face. Raven shook her head, "It's not my place to tell, but I honestly don't know where he is." Raven figured that would be fair enough to both Octavia and Bellamy. She wasn't lying; she really didn't know where they had gone. Octavia's face turned from pleading to angry. But before Octavia could yell at her and cause them to attract everyone's attention, Raven was pulling her by the elbow headed to the doors that lead outside. Once outside Raven let go of her but looked around to make sure no one was around. "Look your brother is fine, okay? They asked for a favor. They'll be back, I promise."

That simple word caught Octavia's attention, "They? Who is they?"

Raven sighed; her allegiance was torn between the Blakes'. She knew that Clarke and Bellamy both just needed time away. She wanted to give that to them without them coming back to an angry mob who would chastise them for leaving camp. Let alone that she was the one that let them leave undetected. But she also sympathized with Octavia's worry.

"Octavi-"

"Don't Raven. Where the hell is my brother? And don't you dare lie to me!" Anger blazed in Octavia's eyes.

"You can't bully me Octavia; I'm not like the rest of the group. You don't scare me." Raven stood there with her arms crossed taunting Octavia to try.

Octavia stepped forward, "You either tell me where my brother is or I'll go straight to Abby about your leg. I've seen you limping around and how you're always rubbing it when you finally get to sit down. If I tell her just how much of a front you're putting up she'll pull you off your detail." She searched Raven's eyes daring her to test her. Octavia and Raven were always the most stubborn of the group and the ones with the shortest fuses, but this exchange was putting their pleasantries to the test.

"Fuck you Octavia. You know for someone who bitches about their brother being their keeper, that's all you've done since we've been back here. Let the guy breathe for a while. Like I said before he'll be back, I told him we needed him here before he left. I don't see him abandoning us. He's always come back, so just give the guy a break"

"He's my brother Raven I'm no-"

They both spun around hearing something at the wall. They saw a section of the metal on the wall being pulled to the side and a head of brown curls popped through looking around. His eyes stopped on Octavia.

"O?" He seemed surprised to see her there, but he was going to be in for an even bigger surprise once she got threw chewing his ass out for leaving without telling anyone where he went.

Bellamy held up the piece of metal so Clarke could climb through. "You can't just leave Bellamy; no one knew where you were. Do you know how stupid tha-

She stopped mid-sentence once she took in Bellamy's appearance. His face had specks of black littering his face. He had woodchips all in his hair and dirt all down the side of his pants. She couldn't place the emotion on his face but it made her push back the need to yell at him and to start asking questions. "What happened to you?"

Octavia looked between Bellamy and Clarke. Clarke was standing beside him. She had realized that they had missed some of the wood chips in his hair. She reached up pulling some of them out while Bellamy flicked his gaze from Clarke to his sister.

"Nothing O, it's not a big deal."

Octavia scoffed, "Well that's a lie if I ever heard one."

Raven was taking in Bellamy and Clarke's appearance. Clarke was radiating anger, the apparent emotion clear on her face. Raven's eyes shifted to Bellamy, she couldn't figure him out. He was always the most difficult to read. His face hard and distant and she could tell he wasn't up for fighting with his sister. Raven touched Octavia's shoulder. Octavia spun around "What!?"

"I think you should give him some time before you start having a go at him."

"Oh fuck off Raven."

Octavia turned to her brother, "What is going on? You don't just waltz back into camp looking like-"

"Dammit Octavia! Drop it!"

She looked at both of them, "Was it grounders? Did they attack you? I can go to Lincoln and talk to him, see if he knows anything."

Bellamy was glaring at her, his voice dangerously low, "Let. It. Go." He growled before pushing past Octavia and pulling open the doors that lead to the garage.

Clarke took a step toward Octavia and shot her a look of apology before trailing behind Bellamy. Raven and Octavia looked at each other. Raven shook her head and sighed, "I told them not to do anything stupid, but I think you're right, something happened because they didn't leave looking like that."

* * *

Clarke was trying to keep up with Bellamy but she could tell he was trying to put as much distance between himself and Octavia as possible. "Bellamy" she tried her best to keep her voice quiet but enough to where he hopefully heard her. He stopped and looked over his shoulder waiting for her to catch up. As soon as she was by his side he kept walking, "If you're going to lecture me about Octavia, don't."

Clarke was taken aback by his tone, "I wasn't going to." She put her hand on his arm trying to slow down his walking. She had to take two steps for every one he took. "I was going to tell you I've got to run and take care of something. But can we meet up later and talk?" Bellamy stopped walking and looked down at her.

"Yeah, I need to wash up anyways. Just come by whenever you're done."

Clarke gave his arm a light squeeze and mustered up her best smile for him. She turned and headed towards the Chancellor quarters the smile falling off her face. If she wanted answers as to what was going on she was going to have to dig for information. She couldn't go straight to her mother, not that she would even want to. But it was the one place she could think of that she could possibly find information and nothing about it would look suspicious. She kept her head down mostly until she came to the medical bay. She could see her mom across the room checking in on a patient. Clarke figured she had enough time to drop into her mother's office and do a quick sweep. She turned down the hallway and ran into an arm that hit her chest.

"Raven?"

"Clarke"

"Raven, not now." Clarke looked over her shoulder.

"Fine, but tell me you two didn't do anything stupid." Clarke's head whipped around to look at Raven.

Clarke didn't have time to sit here and argue with Raven, she needed to get into her mother office and try and find something that would shed any type of light on what was happening outside the wall. "Raven, I said not now" She pushed past Raven and hurried down the hall taking a left hoping that Raven wasn't following her. She glanced back after a few seconds and was relieved when she saw an empty hallway.

Her heart was beating in her chest once she started getting closer. She knew no one would question why she was there, but it was the fact of needing to snoop around for information and the possibility of being caught. She came up to the keypad to get in. Clarke bit her lip, this part didn't even register on her mind. She punched in her mom's date of birth, but nothing. She tried hers and received the same outcome. She wracked her brain trying to think of what else it could be, she learned from Monty that most people use something personal for their passwords. She didn't know if she would trip any sort of alarm so she was going to try one more time, if it failed then she would just go back to Bellamy's room and save it for another day.

Clarke sighed and put in her parents anniversary date. The doors slid open. Part of Clarke was disgusted that her mother would even use that considering she was the reason he was floated in the first place. That was just something she would never forgive her mother for. She stepped inside and the doors shut behind her. She went straight to her mother's desk.

With so many papers on the desk she couldn't even tell what she was looking at. She riffled through them but her eyes zeroed in on the council's agenda from the last meeting. She pulled it out from the other papers and held it up. Clarke's eyes scanned the page falling on three words, _Grounder Patrol Procedure_. Her stomach felt queasy. She knew she couldn't take the agenda but she slid it back under the papers and made her way back out into the hallway.

Clarke's mind was racing. Her mother approved the torture and hanging of the grounders. Not all grounders were bad. Abby knew Lincoln and Nyko, and Lincoln was already part of the camp. He carried his weight, but she would okay the guard killing his people. Clarke was disgusted with her mother; it only solidified the fact that she would have nothing to do with her mother anymore.

* * *

Bellamy heard the knock on his door. He had just gotten out of the shower; it had taken forever to get the soot off his face. No matter what he did it just smeared. He pulled on his shirt as he opened the door. Expecting to see Clarke he was taken aback seeing Octavia standing there.

"Hey big brother."

Bellamy ran his hand over his face; he didn't have the energy to deal with her right now. His mind was on running on what felt like every neuro path in his brain, and dealing with her menial issues with his whereabouts was at the bottom of his list. "O I said to drop it." He didn't even sound mad at this point, he sounded exhausted.

"I'm not dropping this, I know something happened. Why won't you tell me? What if I was the one that came back to camp covered in mud and woodchips?"

Her logic was sound; because she was right he wouldn't have dropped the issue if it was her. But Octavia had no idea what was going on right now and until he had a chance to talk to Clarke he wasn't going to say anything. Bellamy just looked at her.

"Oh, so now we're doing the brooding stare? You'll talk to Clarke, but not your own sister? Since when is she the one that knows you better?"

"Octavia you don't know what you're talking about." He felt irked that she was trying to insinuate that he didn't care for her as much as he cared for Clarke. She was his sister; he took care of her for years. There was no one more important than her.

"Then tell me!"

"Stop!" Bellamy heard the whine in her voice, reminding him that she was still a kid. She may be a fierce fighter but she was still his baby sister, his baby sister that wouldn't let shit go.

Octavia was taken back by the outburst. "Bella-"

"No. Go Octavia." He his eyes bore into hers, "You need to go. I'm not talking to you about this. It doesn't concern you."

"Oh right" Octavia rolled her eyes, "I forgot I'm not Clarke" the venom in her voice hit Bellamy in the chest but he couldn't deal with this now. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on! You and Clarke come back here and you have the same look as when the grounder's attacked at the dropship and you're covered in mud!"

Bellamy grabbed Octavia's arm and pulled her inside his room, "For fuck sake Octavia, let's just announce it to the whole camp." He glared at her, "What's going on with me and Clarke doesn't involve you. Just keep your nose out of where it doesn't belong. It's not that I'm choosing Clarke over you, but you need to leave. There are things going on that are bigger than you." He walked over to his door and opened it. "You need leave O. Just leave me alone." He knew he was being harsh. He could see the hurt and betrayal in her eyes, but he kept telling himself that he was protecting her. The less she knew the better, until him and Clarke could find out more. If the council was stringing up dead grounders it was only a matter of time before they retaliated.

"I guess what they say is true. A couple that kills together stays together." She spat pushing past Bellamy grabbing the door handle and slamming it behind her.

His chest constricted, it felt like she had punched him in the gut. He fell back onto the chair by his desk and put his head in his hands. He couldn't do this; he couldn't go through all of this again. His head jerked up hearing a knock on the door. Part of him hoped it was Octavia, he didn't like the way that fight had ended. He opened the door, "Octav-"

He was cut off mid-sentence, "Bellamy we need to talk." His eyes fell on Clarke as he let her in and closed the door.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know it took a little longer with this one mainly because I've had writers block on Chapter 5 which I'm in the process of hopefully getting past it. Reviews are currency my loves, if I can get at least 10 I'll update as soon as Chapter 5 is done. For those that have reviewed you are fantastic. Also if you have any ideas for a oneshot you'd like to see written leave it in a review. kisses to you all. I hope you enjoyed.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm not sure what this means Bellamy." Clarke sat on his bed watching him pace as he ran his hands through his hair.

"So you saw that they were planning on talking about grounder patrol procedure at the next council meeting. I'm pretty sure today summed up exactly what that means, Clarke." He was going to end up burrowing himself into the ground if he didn't stop pacing.

"Bellamy!" Bellamy's head shot up to look at her. "Sit down. You're driving me mad pacing like that." Clarke heard him mumble something under his breath but didn't even bother to ask. "Look, you're right. It's obvious that they're trying to intimidate them, that's all the guards have ever known. You know how they were on the Ark."

Bellamy's mouth turned into a thin line, "Yes, Clarke, I _do_ know. I was one of them, if you remember."

Clarke sighed. Bellamy was so on edge, but he had every right to be. "Bellamy, you're not like them, you told me that today." There was silence between them.

Bellamy was the first to break it, "Clarke we can't let them do this. It's not just wrong, it's asking for trouble. They think just because we have guns we'll win, but while we may have guns, they have numbers. No amount of guns is going to stop them if we continue to hang them from the trees."

Clarke chewed on her bottom lip, thinking; "Maybe you could talk to Pike?" she shrugged. "He will have to listen to you. You've been there for each grounder encounter we've had. We know how they think more than anyone. I saw the size of the grounder army. Lexa-" Clarke cleared her throat trying to push down the spite she had for the commander. "The grounders won't stand for it. Not after all the destruction we've caused."

Bellamy looked at her like she was crazy, "If you really think Pike will listen to me you've lost your mind, Clarke. I just joined the guard here; the only reason he knows who I am is because of Mount Weather." They both averted their eyes from each other at the mention of it.

Clarke was back to thinking, chewing on her thumb nail her legs bouncing, "What if we use that to our advantage?"

"What are you talking about?" Bellamy's eyebrows furrowed.

"What if you use the mountain and the fact that you've been around the grounders for so long and lead the fight against them?" She scooted closer to the edge of the bed and got up, walking to rest her hands on the desk so she was closer to Bellamy. "What if we use your position in the guard to our advantage? You can get close to Pike, and then maybe we can start to get some answers before they end up starting a war." She whispered.

Bellamy looked up at her, "You realize we're playing with fire, Clarke. If I get caught trying to interfere they'll charge me with treason."

Clarke's eyes locked on his, "You don't have to do it, Bellamy, it was just a thought. We can figure something else out." She straightened her back but kept her eyes on him and gave his shoulder a squeeze before walking back to his bed.

Bellamy turned in his seat to look at her, "It's not the treason that bothers me. I don't agree with what they're doing and if I have to go against them to stop it I will. I can personally deal with those consequences, I just don't want to leave O without anyone."

Clarke could see the internal battle he was having. The lost look he'd get when he was so consumed with thought. "Bellamy, she has family. All of us are family." Bellamy nodded without looking at her. "I promise nothing will happen to her, but to keep that promise we're going to have to decide on a plan soon, before they invade the camp and put us all at risk."

Bellamy sighed, "Okay, then what do I need to do?"

"First we try to get you on one of those patrols."

* * *

"Sir?" Bellamy walked into the armory where Pike was standing over a case packed with weapons.

"Ah! Bellamy, it's good to see you, son." Pike slapped him on the shoulder, a smile on the man's face, before he went back to filling his magazine. He looked over to Bellamy when he noticed he hadn't left to go to his post, "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could be put on another assignment." Pike stopped filling the magazine and put it down in the case. "It's not that I don't enjoy watching the gate sir. I'm just not used to standing in one place for so long." Bellamy cleared his throat. "I'm used to being on the ground sir, it's what I've been doing since we got here."

Bellamy was watching Pike's face closely. He and Clarke had gone over what he was going to say. He wanted to make sure he got it right considering that Clarke had kept him there for a full hour going over it, which had made him have to grab his guard's jacket and rush out of his room to make it to his post on time, leaving Clarke alone. He had managed to make it, but excused himself to go back inside to talk to Pike.

"Bellamy I think you make a great guardsman, but you've only just come back after everything in Mount Weather. We've all noticed a change and I think you should just take some time to…transition" Pike chose his words carefully. Bellamy knew this wasn't going to end the way he wanted it to. "How about this, we give you a few weeks and then we'll reevaluate everything and see if we can't get your boots on the ground. But until then I need you in that tower, you know what to look for. I mean your sister is practically one of them." Pike slapped him across the shoulders with a smile, "Hasn't your shift already started?"

Bellamy was closing his fists so tight he was actually worried he might start bleeding. "Yes sir." He tried his best to keep his voice even as he turned around and left the armory. Bellamy kept himself breathing in and out slowly trying to keep his temper in check. He knew that Octavia considered herself a grounder and, while he wasn't exactly happy about it, he wanted to punch Pike in the face when he talked about her. If he already considered Octavia a grounder, what was going to keep her safe if they went to war? She wouldn't be safe here. He realized Clarke was right; she wasn't trying to get him to take the bullet like she had for Mount Weather. Clarke really did want to help keep Octavia safe, and she was right…this was the best option.

Bellamy reached the bottom of the ladder and climbed it until he reached the platform of the tower. Monty was standing there, leaning against the rail looking out past the gate. He turned when he heard Bellamy step onto the deck.

"Hey. Shift change?" Bellamy nodded at Monty's question and went to stand beside him.

"Has anyone even seen a grounder in the last few weeks?" Monty shook his head.

"I don't think so. At least I haven't heard anything. It's been pretty quiet since the grounders bailed." Monty didn't make eye contact with Bellamy. He stood up straight but stretched his rifle bumping against his leg. "Do you mind if I just crash here with you for a bit? My mom's been a bit..." He paused trying to find the right word, "overbearing."

"Yeah, sure, I don't mind."

Monty took a seat against one of the beams and propped his arms on his knees. There was a moment of comfortable silence. Bellamy looked back at him, "So how is Jasper? I haven't run into him for a while."

"You won't, not unless you're passed out behind the bar." Monty picked at the fuzz on his pants, "He won't even talk to me. Every time he sees me he walks in the other direction." Monty refused to make eye contact with Bellamy, "This is worse than being in the sky box and knowing you're gonna get floated."

Bellamy shifted his gun. He was never good with this type of thing. He mostly kept to himself and the only person he could probably consider a friend was Clarke, but that was after walking through hell together. He had never had to do this with Octavia either so he didn't know what to say. "He'll come around, he's just trying to recover like the rest of us. He sees it from only his angle, to him we're the enemy, we're the ones that took Maya away. Sometimes you have to kill the many to save the few. We were backed into a corner. He's probably still processing everything and sometimes you have to let someone hit rock bottom before you can help them."

Monty was silent; it seemed he was lost in his own thoughts. Bellamy looked out over the camp before switching his attention to the ground past the gates and squinted his eyes thinking he had seen something in the tree line. He pulled his rifle up and looked through the scope scanning the trees, stiffening when his eyes fell on a grounder. He watched as the grounder disappeared for a few seconds before dragging something out of the forest and leaving it on the edge of the trees. Bellamy had never wanted a more powerful scope than he did then. He had the sick feeling in his stomach that it was a body, and if it was a body it meant the grounders were getting closer to Arcadia. He needed to find Clarke and tell her what he had seen.

"I need to go see Clarke." Bellamy said, already headed to the ladder that led to the ground.

"Bellamy you can't just leave your post." Monty told him standing up.

"I don't give a shit about my post right now, I need to go Monty. Can you take my shift until I talk to Clarke? Tell them I wasn't feeling well if anyone comes around." He had already started climbing down.

"Bellamy what's going on?" Bellamy's feet hit the ground and he was already headed into the Ark, leaving Monty's question hanging in the air. Bellamy headed straight to Clarke's room. He knocked on the door and after waiting for what felt like forever he tried her door and it opened.

"Clarke?" He walked in and peered around, noticing she wasn't there. His brows scrunched together. He didn't know where she could be, she had always been the one to seek him out. Bellamy felt a small twinge of guilt at the thought. He turned and made his way back into the hall and checked anywhere he could think of, including the garage area by where everyone ate. Bellamy was getting frustrated. His grip on the gun tightened when he saw Pike and he turned down the first hallway he came across and saw a flash of blonde hair. He wondered what had pushed Clarke to go back into the med bay and started walking towards the door until he saw Abby, her eyes were trained on Clarke. He could tell by Clarke's body language that she knew she was being watched. Bellamy groaned, he wouldn't be able to pull Clarke away without questions.

Bellamy ran his hands through his hair taking a step back and his rifle knocked into the metal wall. The idea hit him hard and he started searching for any surface he could use that wouldn't make too much noise. He walked down the hall and saw a grate from the air ducts propped against the wall. Bellamy glanced both way, took a deep breath and punched the grate as hard as he could. He hissed in pain.

"Fuck!" he shook his hand, it was throbbing and felt like it was on fire. He looked down and saw the blood on his knuckles. His idea had worked but only at that moment did he realize how stupid it had been. He could just have faked a fever, but this way he'd be taken into a room with the blood dropping from his hand. He cradled his hand to his chest as he walked towards the med bay.

Clarke's eyes found him before he could even say anything and she left the patient that she was working with and grabbed his hand carefully. "What the hell did you do Bell?" Clarke walked away and grabbed gauze, some rags, and Monty's moonshine.

Bellamy followed as she pulled him back to a more secluded place. "Please tell me the other guy looks worse." She had started using the rags to mop up the blood that covered his hand.

"Not exactly" Bellamy mumbled, "I needed a way to talk to you without your mom hearing."

"You couldn't wait until I was done for the day?" she poured the moonshine on his hand and Bellamy clenched his teeth his body tensing as he tried to slow his breathing. His eyes were closed and he was doing his best not to yell out in pain. Sure, Monty's moonshine was a great antiseptic, but he preferred it as a drink.

"No, I couldn't." He managed to get out before hissing as Clarke applied the gauze and started wrapping his hand. Clarke raised an eyebrow looking at him. Bellamy lowered his voice, "Clarke we don't know how long this patrol thing has been going on, but I think the grounders are retaliating. I'm pretty sure I just saw a grounder dump a body, a guard's body, outside the tree line."

"Ow!" Clarke jumped and realized she had tied his wrapping too tight as she was processing what he had just told her.

"Sorry!" she fixed the wrapping before looking at him, "If what you saw is true, then our timeline for finding out what is going on just got pushed up." She chewed her bottom lip, "We may need help with this. We came down with a bunch of delinquents right? Maybe it's time we put their skills to good use."

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay I've had a few people tell me that this is going slow, but it's about to pick up. Remember we take time out of our days, nights, weekends, etc. to write. I love all my readers and I hope you guys review/follow/favorite. Also, an amazing thanks to my beta **Derra**. If you want a preview of the next chapter leave a review (guest reviews won't work) and i'll send you an excerpt of chapter 6.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So i know i haven't updated in awhile and i'm sorry! Life got crazy and writers block made it hard to write, but I've finally pushed past it. So i hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think, and for all that have reviewed/followed/favorited you're the best.**

* * *

"Clarke, he's been through worse. I think he can handle fixing a bandage for his hand." Abby took a step into the room. Clarke's eyes were closed tight begging her mind for her mother to be a figment of her imagination. She felt her mother's hand rest on her shoulder. Clarke looked up at Bellamy pleading for any help he could give her.

Bellamy jumped down off the exam table, "It was my fault Chancellor. I just wanted her to make sure I wouldn't have any issues shooting while on patrol."

"But you aren't on patrol." Abby's hand dropped from Clarke's shoulder, "They've assigned you to the gate."

Bellamy cleared his throat trying to rid the sudden panic that had shot up his throat, "Yes ma'am but I asked Pike if I could do patrol. I just wanted to make sure I was ready in case he gave me the okay." Abby looked at him for longer than he would have liked before nodding her head.

"Alright, well you're released so you can go back to your post now."

"Yes ma'am." He stepped around Abby and shot Clarke an apologetic look before turning and heading back into the hallways.

"Why was he here Clarke." Clarke's mother turned to look at her. "I know he didn't come here just for a patch job on his hand. _Which_ he could have done by himself I'm sure."

She looked her mom straight in the eyes, "It was just like he said, he just wanted to make sure he would be good to go if Pike wanted him on patrol. He didn't know if he'd need stitches or not."

Her mother studied her for a while before letting out a sigh, "There's more patients that need your help. I've got a meeting I need to go to. I'll be back in a few hours. Jackson will be here in an hour to relieve you." Her mom reached over and moved a stray hair behind her ear, "And get some sleep sweetheart you're not looking well."

Clarke just nodded and her mom turned to leave. Once she had exited the room Clarke let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her mind instantly wondering what her meeting could be about, was this already planned or was she making one because of Bellamy. Clarke rubbed her temples, her head hurt from the overload of information and worry since the drop ship. She turned from the room knowing she needed to get back to other patients. For the hour she was stuck in the med bay her mind was going over who they would need to help them.

Bellamy made it back to the guard tower and climbed up his face grimacing every time he closed his hand around a bar. He lifted himself up and saw Monty was still there. Monty turned once he heard boots hit he metal.

"What the hell was that all about?" Bellamy sighed and walked over to stand next to him looking out past the gate. Clarke had mentioned getting people to help them and with Monty being a wiz with technology he thought Monty would be one of the first they needed to include. Normally he would talk to Clarke about it but the moment was here and no one was around.

"Look anything that I say between us stays between us." Monty nodded, "Clarke and me snuck out and ended up going to the dropship. When we were there we heard a patrol walking through and they were talking about how the grounders that they've come across, they've been hanging them from the trees as a warning to the grounders. We have a bad feeling that Abby is going to end up with us at war with the grounders again."

"So Abby is hanging-"

"Pike." Bellamy interrupted him.

"So Pike is hanging grounders and thinks that's going to keep them away?" Bellamy nodded, "Well if he wanted a war, that's what he's going to get. Is that why they've pulled they've pulled us all off patrol duties?"

"They did?" Bellamy hadn't heard anything about it, but he'd been so caught up in himself that he hadn't been paying attention to much of anything.

"Yeah, like two weeks ago or something like that. Miller and Harper haven't been out in at least a week that I know of."

Bellamy sat there for a moment taking in Monty's new information, "Miller's dad is head of the guards, right?"

"Yeah I think so."

Bellamy grabbed his gun that was still leaning against the railing, "Do you think you could tell him to come talk to me? If we're going to start really looking into this, we're going to have to be as low key as possible."

Monty nodded, "Yeah I'm supposed to meet him for dinner anyways."

"Great. Thanks for watching my shift for me, go ahead go eat." Bellamy gave him a pat on the back and Monty climbed down the ladder heading into the Ark. It was starting to get dark and Bellamy knew that whatever else needed to be done would have to wait until tomorrow. He had a couple of hours left on his shift. He wasn't happy about the small shifts they wanted to give him before, but now he was glad.

After three hours of staring at nothing Bellamy was relieved from his post and felt drained. So much had happened in just one day. He felt like none of it was real, but he knew it was. The instinct he had relied on since they landed was telling him it was real and it was a _real_ threat. Bellamy didn't want to go back to his room, he didn't want to feel confined. He walked around the edge of the Ark and stopped in his tracks when he saw Clarke sitting there.

"Hey." He was confused as to why she was out here but he took a seat beside her. Both of them falling into the comfort of each other's presence. Bellamy glanced at her, her brows were scrunched together concentrating on something. "Clarke." He whispered.

Clarke turned her head and looked at him and his chest tightened, he knew that look. That tortured look that both of them had worked so hard to escape, but here they were right back in the same position. "Why would she do this? I don't get it. She wanted peace with the grounders and she has it now, why would she screw that up?" Clarke was begging for an answer, and answer that Bellamy didn't have.

"Maybe there's something we don't know. They haven't exactly been forthcoming with any information since we've been back." He sighed in frustration and let his head fall back against the Ark, "They treat us like we're still kids. The amount of blood on my hands and the amount of hard decisions we've had to make because they refused to should prove were more than capable to be a part of their leadership. They're making decisions that we _know_ are wrong because we know the grounders better than they do." His jaw was clenched.

"I still think we need to tell a few people." She whispered looking over at him.

Bellamy's hand went to rub the back of his neck, "Uh, about that. I wrote Monty in on everything that's been going on. I asked him to go talk to Miller since his dad is head of the guard. I figure if anyone could help, those two could. I also think we should talk to Raven. Raven and Monty can give us ears in other places."

Clarke was nodding her head, "That's a good call. What about your sister?" she bit her lip worried he would snap at her. He surprised her and ran his hands over his face.

"I don't want her part of this, this isn't something small. If things go wrong she's going to be one of the first people they go for. Her relationship with me and the grounders, if I'm caught, will put her in the line of fire. They'll use her against me Clarke."

She could hear the strain in his voice, "Bellamy that's not going to happen." She reached out and touched his arm, "I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure she is safe, you have over 40 people in _our_ family that will keep her safe."

"You know she's right." A deep voice said from the shadows. Bellamy already had his gun out and pointed in the voice's direction and his arm pushing Clarke flesh against the wall of the Ark.

Miller walked out with his hands raised and Bellamy cursed under his breath, "Jesus Christ Miller! Are you trying to get shot?" he holstered his gun.

"No, I'm trying to be discrete. Same as you two, who are failing miserably by the way." Miller dropped his hands and waved his hand between the two of them. "Everyone knows you two come out here and talk." He paused and made eye contact with them both, " _Everyone_ " he stressed.

"Fuck." He stood up and turned to help Clarke up and held his hand out. She grabbed it and pulled herself up.

"We'll we were stupid to think otherwise." She brushed her hands against her jeans, "Shall we take this inside?" Both Bellamy and Miller nodded.

* * *

Bellamy and Clarke left Miller's room and started heading down the hall to their own. Not much was said between them. They reached Clarke's room and she just tilted her head toward her room and opening the door. Bellamy followed right behind her and turned when she closed the door. She walked over and sat on her bed. She looked at him, "This feels like Mount Weather all over again. I was a bitch for sending you in, but it was one of the hardest things I've ever done."

Bellamy shook his head as he swung his leg over the chair and sat facing backward on the chair. He rested his arms on the back of it. "It's not the same. It's not a one-man mission."

"I hope Miller and Raven can make this work." Clarke chewed her bottom lip, "If something happens to them because of my mom." She trailed off. She squeezed her eyes shut letting out a shaky breath.

"Hey." Bellamy tried to get her to look at him, she opened her eyes looking at him, "We're better prepared this time. We know how the council works. _You_ know your mother better than anyone. We have all the advantages in this fight."

Anger flared through her, "We shouldn't have to fight. All we've done since we've been on the ground is fight and now we're having to fight our own people."

"Clarke _those_ people aren't our people. Our people, the hundred, would never do this. They wanted to leave our people in Mount Weather to die to follow their own agenda. We're different from them, we learn from our mistakes and we're looking for peace. They're the ones making the wrong decisions. They're the ones putting everyone in danger. _Our_ people…we protect each other, and now we're protecting the Ark." Bellamy pushed off the chair and walked over to Clarke sitting beside her. "I know this is hard because of your mom." Clarke scoffed, "But we've battled side-by-side before, and we've yet to lose."

"I don't want to have to bury another body, I'm done digging graves Bellamy." She shook her head, "I can't handle losing our friends, or you."

Bellamy put his hand on her arm, "No more graves, I promise." Clarke turned to look at him, "And you need to stop worrying about me, I've always fought to get back to you." He smirked. "I battled the blast from the drop ship, I've battled grounders, and I've conquered a mountain. There's nothing to worry about, you're stuck with me."

Clarke smiled at him and he gave her arm a light squeeze as he stood, "Now get some sleep. You look like shit."


End file.
